Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Price Target Raised to $372.00

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) had its target price hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $370.00 to $372.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

AJG has been the subject of several other research reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $352.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $315.27.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Price Performance

Shares of AJG opened at $334.60 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $329.06 and a 200-day moving average of $304.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The company has a market capitalization of $85.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.32 and a beta of 0.64. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $230.08 and a 1 year high of $350.70.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.88%.

Insider Transactions at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 44,783 shares in the company, valued at $14,422,812.98. The trade was a 0.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sherry S. Barrat sold 2,500 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.33, for a total value of $760,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,031,487.89. The trade was a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,235 shares of company stock worth $7,478,224 in the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 94.6% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $614,000 after buying an additional 1,061 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the third quarter valued at about $447,000. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.7% during the third quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,232,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the third quarter worth $401,000. Finally, Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co increased its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.9% during the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 9,789 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,754,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.